All the people I know have a DVD player & watch movies all the time.
80% of those rent.
They will go to BB to pick up a movie for them & the kids on the weekend & see that BB now has Blu-Ray,
This Xmas there will be Blu-Ray players in the $200-$300 range.
Those with HDTV's will remember that the BB has Blu-Ray movies when Xmas shopping starts & will buy one of the players whos movies can be rented at BB.
This will be big in swaying Joe 6 Pack to Blu-Ray.

This is a big but not a mortal blow to HD-DVD but, if Universal goes format neutral that may be the knock out blow.

The sooner this format war ends the better, we don't need the same situation as DVD-A & SACD where niether format "won" so we have 2 niche formats that never took off.

The sooner there is a winner the sooner prices will drop & the sooner all content will be avalible.
Personally I prefer a hard copy (disc) of my movies so this war needs to end before Bill Gates decides it'll be better to only download movies!!

As far as the war ending TheMoose, I definitely agree with you. I know many of you have already invested in either Blu - Ray or HD - DVD. I have not. I still believe the best route is an excellent "universal DVD player" that will play just about any disc you can throw at it. And with Oppo`s 970 player at 149.00, that is in Joe 6 - packs price range.
As far as BlockBuster, I think that is fairly significant that they made a choice. And that will, as you said, influence many of their customers to buy Blu - Ray since they already rent there. But there are other rental establishments, so it will be interesting to see, if they follow BlockBusters lead.

yep. i agree that this is a huge win for BR. but i wouldn't declare them the winner yet. HDDVD still has Walmart in their camp. with Wally's history of providing Chinese electronics at super low prices. i believe Walmart has more influence on J6P than blockbuster. I'm still in the wait and see camp. i have an oppo 891 and it's fine for now. however, when i find a lower cost dual format player that fully supports both formats i believe I'll jump in.

BTW i don't believe the war is between BR and HDDVD. i believe the actual war is between standard def and high def. i believe both HD formats will be around for quite awhile. supported by the makers of dual format players. (remember DVD-R, DVD+R) they are both still around supported by dual format burners. vinyl, cassette and CD all coexisted for awhile. vinyl is still around as a niche product but cassette has disappeared.

the average consumer is not convinced that a HD disc and player and the amount of content available in either format is worth the price. they're happy with their $30 players from wallyworld that has a huge selection of content. i believe this could be negated if the player makers would push the fact that they are backward compatible. (most people i know didn't know the new players could play SD disc.)
heck when i bought my 981 the guys at work were like "you paid how much for a DVD player!?!"
i know exactly 5 people who have HDTV's. in my cul-de-sac there is 1 besides me out of approximately 100 homes, most are professional people who can afford it. at work there are 4 people. none of them are at all interested in either HD format disc. they are happy with what they got. now i ask, If the people with HDTV's aren't interested in HD disc then how can anyone expect people with 35" 4x3 TV's to be interested? they are spoiled by $30 players and $3 rentals. they don't remember DVD players costing $300 or VCR's that were $500+. i do, and it took some time for them to come down in price where every room in the house had one. i believe HD will eventually be that common but it will take time. it will take HD being IN YOUR FACE. it will take lower prices, it will take more content. mostly it will take manufacturers to stop releasing SD versions of movies. same as when DVD came out gradually there were no more VHS to be found.(i know people who didnt buy a DVD player untill suddenly they couldnt find VHS tapes and now they own a machine that plays both VHS and DVD)
HD will win the war over SD. but i believe we will be enjoying both HD formats for a long time.

Strutter, you make a few very good points. Yes, you have the late bloomers to the DVD game. And yes, HD will probably be around for a while. However, with all you said about the wallyworld consumer, do these people need to have a format war?
That to me, just makes things more confusing and complicated for them. They want to go home, hit play, and watch. HDMI, HDCP copy protection, special cables, this is not helping them at all.

Lets not forget that they now must change their video libraries. Lets say another video rental establishment chooses HD DVD. Then, what do we have?

My position, though not popular, is that, the high end AV industry did not need this now. Custom Home installation is experiencing its greatest period. This is the time where the expertise and knowledge of the high end and specialty dealers should come to the fore front. But instead, whether it is greed, ego, or pride, we have companies reminding us of the Beta vs. VHS battle.